May 25, 2015 Goals, Inspiration, Listening to, Being Guided By and Acting Through the Spirit!

Ok so, first of all, how are you all doing? I hope you all had a fantastic week and that you are all getting excited for summer vacations and all that jazz :) That should be fun :)

So secondly, yeah it´s already time for transfers again! It went by WAY too fast this time....I can´t believe another month and a half has already come and gone....it´s way too crazy for me. I don´t like it. but yeah so...yesterday we got the call of "los cambios" at like, 10:30 at night and...I totally knew it...I am being transfered...I knew it! But I didn´t want it to be true so I tried not to think about it and I definitely did not say it outloud. I am really sad to be leaving here...I cried last night ha. But yeah whatever, that´s the life of a missionary. We are always being transfered and changed. But changes are part of life in general so, I just have to accept it and move on. But yeah, my daughter and I will no longer be companions :( We will both have new comps tomorrow... wish us luck and pray that we can have good companions por favor! 

Alright, now, I just wanted to tell you about the little miracles that I was able to see in this transfer. You already know who they are haha, yep. They are Luis, Mario and Cesar!!

So, when we came to Metepec, President Stellmon told us in a letter that we needed to put a goal as companions for the baptisms that we wanted to have in this transfer and plans on how we were going to accomplish it. So my comp and I put the goal of having three baptisms in this month and half that we had together here. We prayed and fasted. We looked in the area book and searched for those who had gone to church in the past, for those who were progressing with the other missionaries and those who had the most potential to progress and we wrote down their addresses and went out and looked for them. We found a few and we had a few options. We invited them all to be baptized and they told us no haha. 

We invited a young woman named Yadis to be baptized and she told us that she would like to but that it would be mas adelante (sorry for the Spanglish haha) but that she couldn´t do it now because of her work and she knows she can´t work sundays because she needs to go to church. She didn´t want to get baptized when she knows that she won´t be keeping the sabbath day holy so that is why right now she says she can´t be baptized. So that was her challenge and we continued to work with her on that but she couldn´t be baptized yet because she didn´t feel ready.

 We also invited Isabel to be baptized and she said that she wasn´t ready either-that she needed to learn more before she made the decision. But she isn´t actually progressing so...we let her go a while ago...

We had actually asked Luis, Mario and Cesar to be baptized also, like the first week that we got here, and they told us no at first. Their mom, Lulu, told us yes but she knew she couldn´t because she isn´t married. So she still has to wait a little while but she wants to be baptized and she knows that it is true. She is super awesome! Seriously :)  But anyway, then we went back like the next week and felt that we should ask them again and they told us yes! We got super excited because we had just fasted about our goal of three baptisms and I think we had also done the fast as a mission...I can´t remember, but we were so excited when they told us yes! 

Lulu told us that she just needed to ask permission from her "husband" and she told us that she would talk to us after and tell us the answer. SO we waited, and we still went to visit them in the meanwhile, and a few days later she told us that her husband gave his permission for them to be baptized! :) So we put their baptismal dates for the 24th of May, they came to church and to baptismal services and all that and they were (are) golden! But...yeah...here´s the rough/crazy part. So, we had an appointment with them on Tuesday and when we went to their house on Tuesday night for said appointment, Lulu told us that she needed to talk to us and we asked her if it was good or bad and she said, "pues, yo digo que es malo". (translation, well, I would say that it´s bad.)  Aw man! No! In that moment our hearts sank and we knew that she was going to tell us something negative about the baptisms of her sons... so we just waited for the blow to come...and it did. She told us that she was talking to her husband and he told her that she was being selfish and that it was unfair for the boys to be baptized when he wasn´t there to see it happen or participate in the great things that they are experiencing (her husband is in the military and he is almost never home and he still has two more years before he is finished). So, she felt guilty and told us about that and we kind of didn´t know what to say and honestly, we handled it poorly... we didn´t really testify or anything...she told us that her kids would be baptized but in like one year when her huscand was able to move closer and be in Puebla so that he could see it happen. So yeah. One year....that´s a long time....It was a pretty sad lesson, in more ways than one, and I felt horrible when we left. I felt heavy and sad...and guilty because the Spirit told me that I needed to say something...and I didn´t say it when I knew I needed to because the member that we brought with us (a yong man named Victor that just barely got baptized the Sunday before we came to the area) kept talking and talking...and we got a little off topic with his comments and stuff...it was just kind of bad haha. But yeah so when we were in the house, I felt really bad and I started crying because I knew that there was something that I needed to say to Lulu to save her boys. We planned super fast and right after the planning session we called Lulu but she didn´t answer. We called her like three or four times and the last time that we called her it said that the line was busy so...we knew that she was already talking to her husband to tell him that yeah, they weren´t going to get baptized. I felt horrible. It was seriously like the worst feeling ever because I had a prompting from the Spirit to say something that could have made the difference and I didn´t say it... But after the failed phone call, my comp said a prayer after that for both of us and I was a little bit more peaceful...but I still felt a little uneasy...but we went to bed. 

The next day we went to our District meeting and it was like, a pure answer to a prayer because Elder Tanner (our district leader) knew about the situation that had just happened with Lulu since he called us the night before to see if they were still good for their interviews (that were planned for Wednesday night, the same day as the didtrict meeting, if that makes sense. I can´t really speak well sometimes haha so...sorry...) and we told him what happened. So the class that he gave was perfect for us and our situation and it animated me to talk to her and to testify to her and all that that her sons need to be baptized and that this message of postponing their baptism wasn´t coming from God. It was literally perfect. There was a part in PME that he shared with us that says that there are many voices in the world that are competing for your attention and that if we aren´t careful we could suffocate the voice of the Spirit. So yeah, that part was awesome and it made me think that there really are a lot of voices that are trying to get our attention and her attention and that the voice of her husband was a distraction in this moment because it was like super random and right before they were supposed to be baptized...they lasted four or five weeks with their date and then, it just falls in the last week? I don´t think so. 

So that same day, after the District meeting, we came home, did our studies, ate, did more studies and worked until eight o´clock at night when we finally were able to encounter Lulu in her house. (I was freaking out the whole day because I literally felt tense and anxious and I couldn´t relax all day because I just needed to talk to her...so I was super happy when she answered the door!) Well, we were invited in and we taught a quick lesson on the law of chastity with their whole family and then after the lesson, we talked to them, with all the kids present this time, about their baptism. We asked them if they wanted to be baptized and they all told us yes and they told us why they wanted to be baptized.  It was a really amazing, spiritual experience and I was crying practically the entire lesson...no joke. It was the first time in a while that I had felt the Spirit so strongly in a lesson and the first time in a long while that I had actually cried that hard in a lesson. The Spirit truly was there and he truly testified to those things that my companion and I were saying. We told them that baptism was not the end, that it was only the beginning of the race that they are each running. I told them that they were on one side of the starting line and they were just waiting and waiting and they were going to wait one year before crossing it...I told them that right now there are other people crossing the line and passing them because they weren´t going to take their opportunity to be baptized and that Satan would enter in and tempt them and tell them, "why would you cross the line now? It´s too late. There´s already too many people running the race, you don´t have a chance. You can´t start now. It´s better if you just stay on this side and watch"...blah blah blah... and we told them that that is what Satan would try to do to them because one year is a long time and a lot can happen. 

We told them firmly that we knew that now was their time to be baptized and that if they didn´t take it now, who knows when or if they would ever make the decision. We just spent the rest of the time testifying to them that we know that this gospel is true, and that it was their moment. I testified with all of my heart and I cried (no Heath, my voice did not squeak ridiculously high this time ;) ) and I told them that I didn´t have a single doubt about the truthfullness of this gospel. I testified of baptism and the Savior and His atoning sacrifice and of the great plan of salvation that our Father has for each one of us. It was a beautiful experience and Lulu started crying as well. After we had finished testifying and all that Lulu asked us, "Entonces...?" and I said, "¿Entonces, que?" and she answered me, "Entonces, cuando puedan tener sus entrevistas?". Oh my gosh. I died inside! I was so happy and I felt overwhelmed with the Spirit and with gratitude with my Heavenly Father for always being there for me and for answering my prayers. 

With smiles on our faces, and hearts screaming for joy inside, we told her that we could have the interviews the next day, Thursday, at five o´clock and she said ok and we were all happy :) Then to end, Mario said the prayer and it was absolutely beautiful and very specific! He asked that they would be able to be baptized on Sunday, May 24th and that their dad would feel very proud that his sons were going to be baptized. It was beautiful.

When we got home, we called the District leader and I asked him, " What are you guys doing tomorrow at 5?" and he said "um...I don´t know." and he said something else but I can´t remember exactly what it was so I can´t quote it haha but then I said, "Could you come and interview them?" And he just started freaking out! "Whoooo!!! Yes! Yes Hermana! Yes!" It was great haha :) But yeah, they had their interviews on thursday night and.... THEY WERE BAPTIZED en la noche blanca with the whole zone la zona! We baptized 21 people in the whole stake last night. It was beautiful. We are super happy and I am so grateful. They seriously have been the miracle of my mission so far and I love them so much. I am really sad that I am being transfered because I wanted to stay here with them and keep teaching them and animating them to love the church and the gospel even more and all that but...I know that the Lord needs me in a different area, with a different companion, and so, even though I am very very sad to leave, I am willing to accept His will and happily anticipate what lies ahead. 

I just wanted to share that with you so you could see that miracles truly do happen but that God answers our prayers and our desires when we act with faith.My companion and I did everything that we could possible do and when we thought that we were finished, the Lord proved to us that there was still more that we could do and we went and we testified and we saved three little precious souls and helped them cross the starting line of their race to eternal life. I know that this gospel is true and that our God is a God of miracles and that He hears and answers every single one of His childrens´ prayers. I know He loves us. I know that He lives. I know His son, Jesus Christ lives and I know that He is my Savior. I know that baptism is the key that opens the door to enter the path that leads to eternal life. I know that with God, I can do all things and I can conquer Satan and bring eternal happiness to the lives of others. I know this gospel is true and that this calling as a full-time missionary is sacred and one of a kind. It is the best decision that I have made up until this point in my life and I am excited to see what Heavenly Father has in store for me next. 

I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and your support and your thoughts as well.You are all amazing and I hope this week is wonderful for each one of you!

Enjoy the pics! :)

Love always,

Hermana Walker

Best Day in Metepec! Hermana Estrada, Luis, Mario, Cesar and Me:)

                 

       

21 Baptisms in our Metepec Stake!:)

May 18, 2015 Listening to Elder Pino (Area Seventy)

Well...I hope that I said that right in the subject line haha...sometimes I don´t know which order or which words are right in English or in Spanish haha but whatever :) The only thing that matters is that Elder Rafael Pino came to our mission and spent three days speaking to us. We went to listen to him in groups of like three zones at a time so like during the three days that he was here, one group of three districts listened to him one day, then the next day another group of three or so districts heard him and so on :) hope that makes sense :) But yeah, so we went to listen to him on Friday and it was super awesome :) I learned a lot of things :) And I liked it a lot also because he is pretty funny haha :) One of the things that he said that I loved was this "If you are happy, tell your face that you are happy" Haha how great is that!? I love it because sometimes there are people, or sometimes we are these people, who are happy inside and all, like we´re fine, we don´t have anything bugging us or anything like that, but we don´t look happy...so he told us that if we are hapy, we gotta make sure our face knows that we are happy :) It´s my favorite quote of the week :) He also taught us something really important and the example he used can be applied to many topics or situations but in this case he was talking to us about obedience and how there are some missionaries that think it is ok to obey almost all the rules, but like, I dunno, I don´t like this rule-it doesn´t apply to me, so I won´t obey it. But I am obeying all the other rules so, I´m good right? Nope. So wrong! Elder Pino gave us an example that I love that goes with this topic :) He said, and I am summarizing and stuff :) but he said, Alright so imagine that you are in an airplane (he was talking to our mission President) and it is time to jump out of the plane and I tell you, alright President, are you ready to jump out of this plane? This parachute is really good. It almost always opens. So, are you gonna jump? And President said, Umm....I think no haha. And we all laughed and stuff cuz it was pretty great :) But it´s so true. We are not going to have much confidence in a parachute that almost always opens. Nope. There´s no way we are even thinking about leaving the safety of the plane right? Or am I just crazy and you all are thinking, "Heck yeah I´m jumpin!" haha...I hope none of you are thinking that... (maybe Charles, if he ends up reading this, would think that ;) haha he tends to do some pretty crazy things ;) or my dad... ;) ). But anyway, he basically told us that we can´t be like the parachute that almost always opens. We have to be obedient and dependant ALL THE TIME! Not just every once in a while, or when we feel like it, or when it is convenient for us. All. The. Time. Always. But yeah, that is one of the things that I learned from him in the special conference that we had :) I don´t have a ton of time but I just wanted to share this with you and invite you all that you can think more in all the commandments that the Lord has given us, big and small, and think of ways in which you can improve on the ones that are a little hard for you so that you can be obedient with exactness and be a dependable, trustworthy parachute that opens everytime- not the parachute that almost always opens. 

I love you all and I hope that you have a great week! Pray for Maro, Luis and Cesar! They are going to be baptized this Sunday in the Stake Center! :) Pray that they can take part in this sacred covenant with their Father in Heaven and open the door to their salvation. Pray that they won´t fall into temptation and that their baptismal date will be firm and strong and that nothing will prevent them from changing their lives for the better! 

Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts and support. I love you all :) I know that they gospel is true and that we are in the only true and living church here on the earth. I know that they gospel is a message of eternal happiness and joy and that we have the marvelous opportunity to share it with families and individuals all over the world so that they can come to the true knowledge of their Savior and Redeemer and so that they can experience true and everlasting joy in their own lives. Stay strong! Be obedient. Live the Gospel. Stay happy. Smile. "Si están felices, avísenle a su cara que están felices." :) Have a great week! :)

Love always,

Hermana Walker

P.S. This week we get to listen to Elder Craig Christensen :) on Friday :) So next week I will share what I learned from him :)     

May 11, 2015 Three Baptismal Goals - Three Baptismal Candidates

Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a fantastic Mother`s day and Heidee...I hope you had an amazingly beautiful wedding! you need to send me pictures..ehem...when you have time that is ;) Family: I already talked to you yesterday but I wanted to say thank you for the opportunity that we had to talk to one another! I am glad that you are all just as crazy as before :) It was a lot of fun to see you guys and talk to you like old times ;) 

Cod: I am so proud of you and I am so excited for you and your call to Arizona! I was praying that you would have your call by Mother`s Day so you could tell me where you got called over Skype :) You are going to have the time of your life and you will love it out there! That`s a promise! It will be the best thing that you have decided to do in your life! I don`t regret making this decision to serve our Father in Heaven, I never will. And I know you won`t either :) you will be fantastic! :) 

Alright, so another topic...as the title indicates...we had an amazing experience this week that made us super happy :) My family already knows about this because I told them yesterday while we were Skyping but...we have been praying and fasting more than normal this transfer so that we could reach our goals....we had put a goal to have three baptisms this transfer and we made plans and we prayed and we invited people to be baptized and...nothing. We invited Lulu and her kids to be baptized and they told us that they wouldn`t be baptized. Lulu told us that she would like to but that she isn`t married so she can`t....but her kids straight up told us no. So that was pretty sad because we were really excited about them. Well, all of this happened like a couple of weeks ago, when we first got to the area. Well, we kept on praying and fasting and inviting all our investigators to come to church and baptisms and everything so that we could figure out who was going to be ready to be baptized. And...this week we went with Lulu again and invited her kids to be baptized, again, and this time they totally accepted! Lulu just told us that she would have to call and talk to her "husband" to ask for permission...so yeah that made us pretty happy :) We just had to wait and see if her husband would let them be baptized... so we kept talking to her like everyday to make sure that they were all doing well and everything and to check up on her answer (well, the answer from her husband). We went with them on...firday or saturday I think...and she told us that her husband gave them permission!! We totally have three baptismal dates and we know and have faith that they will be baptized this month on the 24th :) It`s a Sunday :) So yeah, the Lord truly does answer our prayers when we pray in faith and when we work hard to do all that we can. I am super happy... :) 

But yeah, that is the only thing that happened this week that was really exciting :) oh yeah, something else exciting is...we found another internet that was open and so I am pretty sure you will be able to see the pictures that I tried to send the other time...keep your fingers crossed! Oh yeah, we also had our interviews with the mission president and I learned a lot of things that I can apply to my life to become a better missionary and a better person after my mission :) we talked about how to manage time wisely and make better plans :) also, the whole mission wrote little cards or letters for Sister Stellmon and the Assistants put them all in a book or something like that and gave it to her for Mother`s day! How cute right? :) 

This friday we have to go to Izucar (which apparently is SUPER hot...) because we are going to have a special meeting or conference type thing with the area seventy Elder Pino and his wife :) I`m pretty excited :) It`s going to be great :)

I know that this is the true church here on the earth and that the Book of Mormon really is the key to our religion. I know that without a testimony of the Book of Mormon, we can never know for ourselves if this is the true and restored gospel of Christ here on the earth. I chanllenge all of you to start or keep reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning so that you can either gain a firm testimony for yourselves or get a confirmation of the truth that comes through the gentle whisperings and promptings of the Holy Ghost. As I have been re-reading the Book of Mormon I have been blown away by all the truths that I have discovered and re-discovered by searching those sacred pages. I know without a doubt that Joseph Smith is a true prophet that was called of God to re-establish the only true and living church here on the earth so that all of His children could come to the true and restored knowledge of their Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ, so that they could enjoy all of the blessings that He has prepared for each of them and so that they could more fully understand His divine plan of salvation. I know that this sacred volume of scripture contains the fullness of the gospel and all the answers to all the questions and problems that we face and ever will face in our lives. Read it. Love it. Share it. The Lord will bless you with greater understanding and knowledge of spiritual things and you will also receive temporal and eternal blessings by feasting upon the words of Christ. I love this Gospel and everything that it entails. I hope that you have a great week full of success and spiritual experiences so that you can keep growing, progressing and developing as you should. 

Love always,

Hermana Walker 

P.s. I hope this email makes sense...if not... I`m sorry :P

Hope you enjoy the pictures! I will send more :) Cuz I love this area! :)  

May 4, 2015 Like Mother Like Daughter

So...you know that saying, the one I put in the subject line? Well it is totally true. You guys will never guess what happened this week. That`s right. My daughter tripped and biffed it...just like her mommy.... Remember when I was in my training and I totally tripped and biffed it on a speed bump? Well my daughter totally tripped and fell...this happened last Monday when we left the house of a member after a Family Night that we had with them (and a less active and a family of investigators. It was pretty awesome and we totally triple dipped the lesson ;) ) But anyway, it was like 8:50pm and we were leaving to go to our house and my companion started walking one way and I watched her for a second and then said, "Hermana, it`s faster to go this way" and I pointed in the opposite direction. She turned around and saw which way i was pointing and she said "Oh yeah that`s true" and she like turned around way too fast or something, I don`t actually know what happened, but anyway, the point is is that she tripped on the road (because the whole road is paved with like cobble stone) and she started falling in like slow motion! It was the weirdest because she was falling right before my eyes but I was too far away and my body wasn`t functining fast enough to do anything and...she went down! She like fell for one side so she scrapped up her right elbow and her right knee as well...but her other arm is totally fine and her left knee just has a bruise on it...but oh man. I felt horrible! But at the same time I was laughing because I could NOT believe that she totally fell in her training, at night, JUST LIKE HER MOTHER!! It was ridiculous. I still can`t believe that it happened hahaha :) But yeah, that was the adventure for the week :) and this internet or cyber is lame...you can`t see the pìcs when I send them so...I will send them next week so you can see her battle wounds haha ;) we are going to try and find a better cyber. We don`t like this one but it is the only one that is open right now so...it kind of stinks....

We had 6 investigators in sacrament meeting this week so we were really happy about that and we have plans to visit them and put baptismal dates with them so that they can be baptized this month! (pray really hard for them!) Their names are: Lulu, Mario, Luis, Cesar, Angeles and Dominga. Pray more specifically for the little boys (Mario, Luis and Cesar) because they are really amazing and they have great potential! :) 

I have to go now because we still need to go to Atlilxco to buy some stuff....but I wanted to tell you all that I love you a lot and I hope you have a fantastic week and...Happy Mother`s Day to all you mothers out there! You all are amazing and you do great things for your children! keep up the good work! 

I also want to quickly bear a simple testimony that I know that we are in the true church because we have the true and restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I have grown so much being here on the mission and I have been able to find more truths, and confirmations of the truths that I knew before, as I have read and studied the scriptures (both the Bible and the Book of Mormon). I know that the Bible is the word of God as long as it is translated correctly, and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that it testifies of Christ and teaches us all the things that we must do in this life to be saved, and that the Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other. I am grateful to have the knowlege of this gospel and to be here enjoying all the blessings that come from being a member of the restored church of the Savior Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that the plan of salvation is true and that it really is the plan that God has for us so that we can return to live with Him someday. It is perfect. It is flawless. It was made and presented for us and our well-being. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know that His atoning sacrifice heals broken hearts and strengthens feeble beings. We truly can do all things through Christ because He gives us the strength that we lack and He is on our right side and on our left, cheering us on in this race we are running so that we can cross the finish line and fall into His welcoming arms. I have no doubt that we have the truth, that we are in the truth and that we must live it. I love my calling as a missionary and I love this work that the Lord has called each of us to. I hope you can all look forward with eternal eyes and that you can fight the battle armed with the armor of God so that you can say at your last day that you have fought the good fight, you have finished the race, you have kept the faith. (see 2 timothy 4:7) 

I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Love always,

Hermana Walker